Russia is running out of children – MP has a strange demand: get women out of prison so they can give birth to offspring

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Children are the fighters of tomorrow and that is why Russia needs as many of them as possible. While students are already preparing for war and learning to use weapons and drones, the birth rate also needs to be increased. Because: Russia is facing a demographic catastrophe because of the war in Ukraine. More than 300,000 soldiers are said to have already died at the front. Many women have become widows – and fewer and fewer Russian women are becoming pregnant.

According to Russia’s statistics agency Rossstat, the population shrank by 240,000 people between January and May this year alone. Russia is suffering from population decline for the fifth year in a row; the war has drastically worsened the situation. Russian President Vladimir Putin (71) calls for solutions.

According to BBC Russia, Russia’s Orthodox leader, Patriarch Kirill (77), is fighting for the “preservation of the people”. With the support of some MPs, he is calling for a ban on abortions in private clinics. The patriarch emphasizes that the proposed law is in line with citizens “who are aware of the need.” He does not mention sources. In November, Putin publicly acknowledged that “the problem of abortion is acute.”

Number of abortions halved in seven years

Abortion bans are already common practice in some regions. Residents of annexed Crimea report that clinics no longer perform abortions. In some areas, women who want to terminate a pregnancy need permission from the priest, AP writes. And: Tablets for terminating a pregnancy are now only issued by clinics with enormous bureaucratic efforts. Strict rules also apply to the morning-after pill.

According to the Russian Ministry of Health, more than 600,000 abortions were performed in 2017, but by 2022 there were only 300,000 – of which 120,000 were medically necessary. The Russian Republic of Mordovia has introduced fines for advising women to have abortions. Facilities that perform abortions face a fine of up to 200,000 rubles (about 2,000 francs). And: Just informing yourself about this can result in a penalty.

Incarcerated women could have children

It is not only in Crimea that women are denied the right to self-determination. In the Republic of Tatarstan and the Chelyabinsk and Kursk Oblasts, abortions will no longer be offered in private clinics. The problem: In public clinics, women are subjected to intensive interrogations. “We are actively involved in saving every child,” the deputy governor of the Kursk region, Andrei Belostotsky, told the Kursk newspaper. Some public clinics do not perform abortions on their own initiative. “Every rescued child is a treasure of the state,” Vladimir Pavlovsky, chief physician of Atlant Hospital, explained to the local newspaper. That is why a ban on abortions was introduced.

Duma deputy Valeriy Selesnyov does not think much of the bans. He wants to tackle the problem of the low birth rate with another – extremely strange – proposal. Selesnyov sees women in prisons as a solution. He writes on Telegram that about 45,000 women in Russia are serving prison sentences for “economic, petty” crimes.

“Many of these women are able to have children,” he wrote in his post. His suggestion: the women in prison should be able to interrupt their sentences. If the woman becomes pregnant during this period, the prison sentence can be waived entirely.

His proposal was criticized by members of the Russian Human Rights Council. “This idea is strange, to say the least,” Eva Merkachyova told News.ru. She points out that no one thinks about the consequences for women and children. «During this ‘vacation’ she has to find a partner quickly. Who can be found at this time? How should that work? That seems crazy to me.” She also wonders whether the child can receive appropriate upbringing and care under such circumstances.

Source: Blick